


Joshiki

by k1bbl3



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, Kaede loves animals, Kitsune, Kitsune Kokichi Ouma, Ouma wants his chicken nuggets, give him his chicken nuggets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16480373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k1bbl3/pseuds/k1bbl3
Summary: Known only between close friends, Kaede Akamatsu is a major animal lover. It ranges from her buying various animal themed sweaters to her stopping in the middle of the road to pet a friendly cat. To most people, she doesn't even look like someone who adores puppies and kittens.However, her love for animals soon lands her into a life-altering situation, unbeknownst to her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write smth light - in contrary to WWOTF. And so here this is :")  
> Honestly this is more disorganized than my other series but without anything else to add let's get this show on the road

The repetitive sound of heels clicking against the cold concrete ground echoed as two teenagers navigated their way through the dark neighborhoods. A cold late-autumn draft blew through the silent street, making the two teens shudder from the sudden breeze.

Kaede and Shuichi were returning home from an after-party hosted by none other than their beloved classmate Kaito Momota, as part of a celebration for Kaede winning first place in Hope’s Peak Academy’s talent show. Despite thoroughly enjoying the party, the two got exhausted quite quickly due to how packed it was. Regardless, the two thoroughly enjoyed the festivities, and after making sure that Kaito wasn’t going to stay out too late, the two began making their way back to the school’s dorms.

Upon reaching an intersection, Kaede and Shuichi glanced both ways. Before the girl could step forward however, Shuichi gently tugged on her sleeve.

“I know a small park close to school that we could stop by for a bit. It’s close to school and you could take the opportunity to rest your feet for a bit.” He offered, blinking as his cheeks flushed pink from the cold air.

Kaede however, as much as her feet are aching from wearing the heels all night, was yearning to be curled up in her warm bed. On top of that, they were rather close to the school anyways.

Shaking her head, the girl smiled at the boy. “No thank you, we’re almost there anyways!”

Nodding, Shuichi reluctantly let go of her sleeve, following her as she began to cross the street. And thus, the two continued their trek back to their rooms. However, Kaede noted that the boy was rather silent during their trek. 

 

As they neared the academy however, loud barking could be heard within the school’s gates. The pair stopped in their tracks and looked at each other, both hesitant and unsure of what to do.

“Should we check it out?” She whispered, hiding behind the school’s gate.

Though visibly conflicted, Shuichi slowly nodded, before proceeding to sneak through Hope’s Peak Academy’s unlocked gates. Kaede followed suit, before the two began tracking down the source of the racket.

Much to their surprise, they came across an odd sight: three or so stray dogs gathered around a tree, barking around it. On top of that, a black and white cat was desperately clinging onto one of its branches, visibly wounded and desperately struggling to grip onto something.

“Kaede, I’ll call school security, they’ll know what-“

Before the detective could finish however, one of Kaede’s shoes had already made its way across the yard, colliding with one of the dogs’ faces, resulting in a loud yelp. Without hesitating, she hurled her other shoe at the other dog. Without any more shoes to throw, the girl lowered herself into a defensive stance, glaring at the dogs ahead.

The dogs, now knowing their locations, fixed their gazes on the two teens, with one of them baring their teeth at the two. With Shuichi dumbfounded and frozen in fear, Kaede decided to take action. Sucking in a deep breath, she stomped her foot, whilst signaling for them to shoo.

Thankfully, with the other two dogs being intimidated enough to run off, the last one decided to follow his fleeing companions, finally leaving the poor cat alone. Sighing in relief, the pianist stepped forward in order to retrieve her shoes, all whilst looking for the injured cat. However, oddly enough, there was no cat to be seen by the time she looked up.

Making her way back to Shuichi, she met his stern yet surprised gaze as they began to finally make their way to their dorms.

“That was a dumb thing to do, Kaede.” He scolded, rubbing his temple.

“I know.” She paused to sigh. “But I felt bad for the poor cat…”

He gave her an odd look as he stopped in front of his dorm’s door. “Cat? I didn’t see a cat at the scene…”

Kaede tilted her head in confusion. “But there was a cat in the tree, no?”

“There was no cat, Kaede. All I saw were three dogs.” He corrected, pausing to let out a yawn. “Anyways, I’m gonna hit the hay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight…” She mumbled, stepping into her own dorm as she removed her shoes, followed by her jacket.

After changing into a comfortable pair of dog-themed pajamas, the girl then laid down in her small twin-sized bed, staring up at the ceiling as she began thinking to herself. Perhaps she truly was mistaken? In the heat of the moment, it did look like there was a cat there, though looking back, she did suppose that Shuichi was right all along. After all, it wasn’t there by the time she had picked up her shoes. She decided to blame her delirium on her exhaustion after a long night of performance and socializing.

Kaede turned to face the wall, squeezing her eyes shut as she clutched her pillow, trying to keep her thoughts from drifting onto the incident. Channeling all noises out, the girl finally fell asleep after a long and exhausting evening…

 

Morning came around as usual, however, this time, it wasn’t caused by her alarm clock or by Shuichi knocking on her door. The girl was awoken by soft rustling noises outside, followed by occasional thumps. Groaning, Kaede immediately tried to drown out the intruding noises with her pillow. However, after curiosity and guilt got the best of her, the Ultimate Pianist decided to sit up and open her window to have a peek.

Groaning upon seeing that it was dawn, she was almost tempted to slump back down and continue sleeping, however, her curiosity pushed her onwards. After scanning the area near her window, the girl almost decided to call it quits until she saw a familiar black and white tail swishing through the short grass.

Immediately focusing on the tail, Kaede gasped when she saw the same cat from last night, still wounded and limping as it sniffed the ground. It then stopped in its tracks, lifting its head to look straight into her eyes. She froze as it then began limping off towards the school’s exit.

Practically leaping out of her warm bed, the girl slipped on a pair of slippers, followed by yanking an old jacket from her closet, and dashed out in search of the wounded animal. And, after a few minutes of wandering in the crisp autumn air, she found it collapsed onto the ground, heaving as blood poured out of its newly formed wounds.

Her heart twisted into knots at the sight before her. And, in a state of drowsiness, her half-functioning brain told her to wrap the cat in her old jacket and carry it to her dorm room and patch its wounds.

And that’s just what she did.

After a good two hours of patching up its wounds (thank God the Ultimate Nurse is an early bird), she had made the animal a makeshift bed consisting of a small cardboard box and old blankets in the corner of her room. Afterwards, she had fed it some (stolen) dry food from one of the upperclassman’s research labs as well as some water. However, due to the cat’s small stature, she was unsure if it was an adult or a kitten. Just to be safe, she decided to place a small bowl of milk beside it.

She shot another glance at the animal in the corner of her room. It was still asleep, with it being curled up into a tight little ball, tail covering its snout as it softly snored. It was kind of cute to be honest. It reminded her of a pet dog she had when she was a kid, with the way it slept.

Kaede currently laid at the foot of her bed, yawning as she continued watching the animal sleep. She checked her phone’s clock: it read 5:30 am. Just 3 hours before her morning classes. Great.

Making a mental note to ask for help from an upperclassman in the morning, the girl allowed herself to drift off into a light sleep…

 

By the time her alarm went off, it was already 6:30 am. Though her body still felt exhausted the Ultimate Pianist willed herself forward as she sat up, stretching as she immediately began her morning routine.

After a quick shower, followed by some other daily maintenance, she had changed into her uniform. However, before she headed towards the breakfast hall to meet up with her friends, Kaede decided to check up on the sleeping cat, only to be mortified by what she saw.

The girl shrieked as she leaped onto her bed, hand hovering over her mouth by the sight in front of her. Right where the cat had been, was a short, skinny and pale boy curled up in its place. He had unruly messy purple-black hair, and he was completely naked, save for some torn bandages. However, he too was covered in injuries, much like the feline. Upon hearing her scream, he sat up, blinking as he revealed that his eye color was a deep amethyst. Underneath him was the now squished box, as well as her old blankets, now drenched in dried blood.

“Who the hell are you and why are you in my?!-“ She began, only to be suddenly silenced by a wave of his ghostly pale hand.

“Shh. You already yelled once, no need for more of your shouting~ And isn’t obvious? You saved my life just this morning, o kind one!” He said, grinning, revealing his razor sharp teeth.

“I-I don’t get it!” She choked out, clutching her phone as he sighed, shifting to sit on his knees.

The boy shot her an annoyed glare, before running a hand though his messy hair, his once mischievous gaze now completely fading into a dead serious expression. However, despite this, he kept his toothy Cheshire-cat grin.

“You really don’t get it do you?” He asked, his voice now an octave lower than it was just a few moments ago.

She shook her head.

The boy’s grin only grew as he let out an odd sly giggle. Within the blink of an eye, she had noticed that atop his head were a pair of fox ears, followed by three black and white tails swishing behind him. Upon her sudden realization, his grin faltered into a small innocent smile.

“Now do you get it?” He continued, giggling once again when all she replied with was with a small gasp.

Taking in a deep breath, Kaede threw her backpack onto her bed as she got up to rummage through her closet as an attempt to find suitable clothes for him. After going through a few old sweaters her mother had given her, she tossed a lavender cat sweater at him before gesturing towards her bathroom.

“Before we discuss anything, go put this on. I’m not letting you stay here naked.” She ordered, glaring daggers at him from the opposite side of the room.

“Wait, what about my wounds?” He asked, making the girl facepalm.

Oh yeah. He was drenched in blood and her room already smelled like a bloody period.

After spending yet another hour cleansing his wounds and re-bandaging them, she had finally finished. She had noted that bandaging a humanoid fox boy was much more difficult than an unconscious cat. Whenever his wounds stung, he first tried swiping at her, resulting in a tear in her left sleeve. Afterwards, he gritted his teeth, letting out the most bone-chilling growl she had ever heard. After the risky operation, he simply hopped onto his feet and shuffled into the bathroom to begin changing.

Whilst he was changing, the pianist had sat on her bed once more, removing her shoes and vest and neatly returning them to where they belong. She hummed to herself as she swung her legs, allowing herself to become lost in her thoughts.

Was this the cat she had found just this morning? Was something supernatural happening? Was she cursed? At this point, who knew.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the odd boy padding back into her room, with the sweater now thankfully covering most of body, as well as his hands. She heard the soft noise of nails clicking against the hard ground as he scurried out of the bathroom. He then marched back to his smushed box and plopped back down in it, innocently glancing up at her as if he didn’t try to claw her just now.

Sighing, Kaede ran her fingers through her now-undone bangs before beginning. “First of all, what on earth _are_ you? You’re not human, that’s for sure.”

“You’ve never heard of a Kitsune before, miss?” He asked, in an almost irritatingly smug way.

The pianist raised an eyebrow. “They’re mythological creatures, of course they’re not supposed to exist!”

The boy giggled. “Nishishi!~ Humans are so dense! It’s such a shame that they stopped believing in us just because we’ve stopped making ourselves visible to them!”

“So what you’re telling me is that instead of being a small cat, you’re a living, breathing Kitsune?”

His tails bushed up and he let out a snarl. “Hey just because I’m small doesn’t mean that I’m a puny cat!”

Kaede flinched and she held her hands up in defeat as he huffed, glaring daggers at her. “O-Okay, sorry!! But not every human being has the knowledge to differentiate a mythical creature and a cat!”

Regaining her composure, the girl continued on with the interrogation. Clapping her hands together, Kaede forced herself to meet his unwavering gaze as she continued.

“Second, what’s your name? Third, what were you doing here? Fourth, what do you eat?-“

“Jeez that’s a lot of questions for a small interrogation!”

“Just answer them for crying out loud.”

Huffing, the kitsune put a finger up to his chin before speaking, his tails twitching.

“Well, I can’t really tell you, but please call me Ouma~ And second, that is classified business. Those dogs had interrupted me and greatly wounded me. Aaaand third, I had managed to survive eating nothing but fast food.” Ouma said all at once without pausing to breathe.

“Fast food? Can animals even handle the amount of grease in that?” She questioned with notable disgust, cringing when he nodded eagerly.

“Whilst a boring old cat or dog may die after around three triple-sized hamburgers, a powerful kitsune like me is unaffected by the excess calories, unlike you pathetic humans~” He purred, practically drooling when he mentioned hamburgers.

She resisted the urge to facepalm as the girl simply crossed her arms, staring down at him. He had to be lying. Not even the laziest of people she knew liked eating that much fast food on a daily basis.

“You sure about that Ouma?” She pressed, tapping her foot in the air.

The fox nodded before continuing. “It’s true! I know a few good fast food joints around here!” He paused to snicker. “But that’s obviously a lie~ But hey, you haven’t told me your name!”

Kaede blinked at the sudden realization. She was so focused on prying information out of him that she had forgotten to introduce herself.

“My name is Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist. I’m a student here at Hope’s Peak Academy…”

The boy mumbled her name under his breath before finally standing up, dramatically bowing before her feet with his signature grin.

“Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Kaede~ From now on, I’m your loyal familiar here on until our contract ends, miss pianist!” He declared dramatically, before opting to crouch before her feet.

“C-Contract, what contract?! And don’t call me miss pianist!” She exclaimed, blushing when she saw the boy look up at him from below. 

He suddenly appeared crushed, as tears welled up in his eyes. Ouma’s ears lowered as his lip began to quiver. “Y-You mean that you don’t know about our contract? And all this time I’ve been working so hard to protect you from nasty demons as your loyal familiar…?”

Guilt stabbed at her heart like a razor sharp dagger. She certainly couldn’t remember anything regarding any kind of contract, however, guilt forced her to play it safe. “I-I’ve forgotten, that’s all! P-Perhaps you could jog my memory?”

Ouma nodded, wiping away a stray tear as he began. “Let’s see... It was 100 years ago. Your grandmother had saved my life in exchange that I become her family’s spirit guardian. And I of course accepted, becoming the Akamatsus’ loyal kitsune familiar. However, all this time, I hadn’t made myself visible to you, due to your family living in the city.” He paused to sniffle. “Fast forward 100 years and here I am, working so hard to please you and you can’t do as much as to remember who I am!!!” He then proceeded to wail.

Kaede resisted the urge to toss him out of the window the moment she caught wiff of his lie. She just had to become stuck with a mischievous trouble-making kitsune, out of the various kinds that supposedly existed.

“That obviously didn’t happen!” She snapped, crossing her arms at him.

His tears instantly dried up as he went back to giggling. “Yep! We met just this morning! What kind of evil spirit would I be if I were to be submit myself to being someone’s mere pet dog? That’d be so unlike me!~”

“Wait, you’re evil?”

“Yep yep! I’m an evil fox spirit and I’m here to torment you for the rest of your life!”

“That’s not true either!”

By this point, Kaede could already tell that her life was going to be a lot more complicated thanks to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede is left struggling on how to take care of Ouma. Ouma however, doesn't show any mercy. She is left battling to keep her cool as she figures out what to do with him.

After trying her hardest to continue with the questioning, the fox’s mischievous personality and lies had quickly drained her patience. As soon as she felt ready to snap his neck, Kaede suddenly tried to leave, saying that she had classes to attend. However, she was met with pouting from the fox, as well as Ouma clinging onto her arm like a small child.

“Kaedeeeee!! Don’t leave me!” He whined, desperately clinging onto her vest.

“I’ve got classes! And you’ll attract attention if you go out looking like that!” The girl grumbled, trying to push him off of her.

“But it’s so boring! And I hate waiting!” Ouma cried out, tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes.

Kaede sighed. Judging by what had just happened not even 10 minutes ago, the boy was most very likely faking it. Prying him off of her, she padded towards one of her desk’s drawers, rummaging through it before pulling out a spare cellphone and tossing it at him. Ouma caught it, plopping down onto the bed as he glanced up at her with wide eyes, almost like a cat who had just arrived at the vet.

“What’s this for?” He asked, examining the smartphone in his hands.

The pianist began making her way towards the exit once more before stopping to look back at him, making one last check to make sure he’s not planning something.

“There’s no password and all I have is games on it. Feel free to play Minecraft on it until I return. If you need to charge it there’s a charger in the same drawer. Oh, and I normally keep water bottles in my closet, as well as granola bars.” Kaede simply said, slipping on a pair of flats before exiting her room. 

Afterwards, she locked her room and clutched the key against her chest, sighing as she leaned against the door. Now that she had now (hopefully) taken care of the fox getting bored for the next few hours, she now had another problem on her hands.

How was she going to feed him? She can’t just feed him kibble anymore, since she’d probably be killed before she can even apologize. She also can’t afford buying him fast food every other day due to being a simple high school student. On top of that, she had zero clue as to what foxes ate, let alone mythical beings such as kitsunes.

Making a mental note to meet her friends during lunch, Kaede made a bee-line towards the library, in hopes of at least finding something useful in there.

“Kaede!”

The girl whipped her head around to see Shuichi dashing towards her, panting slightly as he fixed his hat. He stopped in front of her, adjusting his bangs as the boy looked up at her.

“Why weren’t you at breakfast? Class is going to start soon.” Shuichi panted silently, fixing her gaze on hers.

Oh yeah. She was so fixed on feeding Ouma that she had forgotten to eat breakfast. Just being reminded of breakfast made her stomach growl loudly. She awkwardly chuckled, suddenly being hyper aware of the fact that she doesn’t have her vest on.

“I… I woke up late because I wasn’t feeling well. I also forgot to eat.” She lied, trying her best to keep her voice from wavering. She prayed to whatever god existed to make him keep quiet about her not having her vest on, as well as to why she was in front of the library.

Her hands began to sweat under the detective’s unwavering gaze. Just when she thought that he had caught onto her lie, he spoke up.

“Oh. I hope that you’re feeling better. Anyways, want me to bring breakfast to your room? Today they’re serving pancakes.” He offered with a small smile.

Nodding, the pianist felt relief wash over her body like an ocean’s wave. Though she felt bad for lying to him, she wanted to keep Ouma a secret at least until she can figure something out.

“Well, let’s go! I’ll walk you back to your room.” Shuichi said, guiding the ‘sickly’ pianist back to her dormitory.

After being walked back to her room, she waited until the detective was out of earshot to open her door. Thankfully, Ouma was still on her bed, messing around on her phone. The kitsune didn’t even bother to look up when she arrived.

“That was fast.” He muttered, eyes glued to the screen.

Kaede ignored his comment as she pressed her ear against the door for a moment. “Can you turn invisible or something like that? Someone’s going to come into my room soon.”

“Nope.”

“Can you at least stay in my closet or bathroom for a bit?”

“Nope.”

“Why are you being so difficult?!”

Ouma sighed, plopping the phone down as he glared at her lazily. “Just because I live under your roof doesn’t mean that I’ll obey you like some stupid mutt. I’m too good for that.”

“Well do something! He’ll be here any-“

She was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Shuichi’s voice.

“Kaede! Open up!”

“Give me a minute!”

The pianist turned around to force Ouma out of her window, only to see him in his regular fox form, curled up under the sweater and pretending to be fast asleep. Sighing in both frustration and relief, the girl opened the door, plastering on a warm smile.

The first thing that hit her was the wafting smell of buttermilk, as well as the smell of chamomile tea. Stepping aside, she allowed Shuichi to enter. The boy did so, placing the tray on her desk as he sat on her bed. However, one thing she noticed about him was that his eyes were rather puffy. Though concerned, she decided not to ask about it, brushing it off as it being flu season.

The raven-haired boy gave her a heartwarming smile. “I asked Kirumi to make you some tea. I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you, Shuichi.” She replied, sitting down next to him.

“I can’t stay for long. But since first period is pretty close to the dorms, I can stay for a bit.” He muttered, glancing around at her room before fixing his gaze on the fox.

“Oh? When did you get a cat?” The boy commented, blinking as Ouma lazily opened an eye.

Kaede’s heart began pounding in nervousness, out of fear of what Ouma might decide to do next. “I found it just this morning. It wasn’t doing so well and I couldn’t just leave it outside.”

Shuichi hesitantly stuck a hand out towards the ‘cat’, awaiting for its reaction. “Is that so?”

Unsurprisingly, Ouma suddenly swiped at him, making the boy jump in return. The ‘cat’ hissed at him, before curling up under the sweater. Shuichi blinked, somewhat surprised by the cat’s reaction. Thankfully, he didn’t seem hurt by the sudden swipe due to his fast reflexes. Kaede made a mental note to scold him when Shuichi left.

“He isn’t that friendly.” The girl commented.

“I can see.”

“He’s also a little nasty shit.”

The ‘cat’ lifted its head, glaring at Kaede before plopping back down, shoving himself under her pillow. Though she wanted to scold him here and there, she bit back her words instead. Suddenly, Shuichi stood up, adjusting his uniform as he headed towards the door.

“I gotta go, I’m late for class. I’ll come back as soon as school’s over to bring you homework.” He announced, not even awaiting her answer before stepping out, closing the door behind him.

Kaede felt that something was off, and she stared down at her feet. However, she was interrupted by Ouma throwing her pillow at her face.

“What was that about being a little shit I just heard?” He teased, pulling down his shirt just as she had looked over.

The pianist tossed it at him, crossing her arms and pouting at him. “You shouldn’t have scratched him, Ouma. He’s not a threat and you know it!”

The fox looked disinterested as he scratched behind one of his ears. “I’m not a cat. I thought we’ve established that already.”

“If I tell him you’re a fox they’re going to take you away!”

“They won’t~ Humans are too stupid.”

Groaning, Kaede threw her shoes off and marched over to her desk, her mouth watering from the smell. Her stomach was begging her to just wolf down her breakfast right then and there. However, Ouma had also followed, gazing over the pancakes as if it were poison.

“What on earth is this?” He groaned, flattening his ears.

Kaede shoved a piece into her mouth. “Pancakes.”

“I know what pancakes are, I’m talking about this horrid-looking sauce on it.”

“It’s called maple syrup, Ouma.”

“It looks like molasses but worse.”

The girl rolled her eyes. She continued taking bites of her breakfast before she had noticed that he was staring intently at her, a line of drool making its way down his chin. He looked like a dog pleading to its owner, if she thought about it. Kaede chuckled and offered him a piece. In return, he narrowed his eyes at it, lips curling up into his signature Cheshire cat grin.

“How do I know it’s not poisoned?”

“I’m eating it, aren’t I?”

“Ok, good enough.”

Ouma accepted the piece, and unenthusiastically threw it into his mouth. Within seconds, his eyes had dilated into the size of dinner plates. Though he would never admit it, his tails were twitching, and he let out a silent pleased purr.

Kaede couldn’t help but to giggle as she divided her portion with him, despite her hunger begging her not to. He sat down beside her, scarfing down his breakfast with the spare utensils she kept in her room for emergencies. Afterwards, she let him have a sip of her tea before she finished it herself.

After she made sure to keep him put, she fixed her uniform and began setting off towards the library, hoping to find books on foxes. On the way, she stopped across a lost-and-found box. And, after making sure that nobody was looking, she crammed some boys clothes into her backpack before scurrying off towards the library.

Upon arrival, she had noted that there was nobody there, aside from Sonia Nevermind, an upperclassman of hers and Korekiyo Shinguji, her classmate. After giving the princess a ‘good morning’, she made her way towards the part of the library containing biology books.

After finding three books on foxes and canines, she set them aside and began searching for books on Kitsunes. Korekiyo, who had been reading the entire time, perked up when he had noticed her browsing the mythology section.

He let out an almost inaudible chuckle. “What are you searching for?”

“I need information on Kitsunes. It’s for a piece I’m working on.” She lied, not looking up from her browsing.

“Kukuku… I can be of help, if you wish.”

“Really?!”

The girl gave up on her efforts and sat across from the boy, staring at him expectantly. In return, he let out another chuckle as he set his book aside, neatly folding his hands.

“But of course. I am quite knowledgeable on these mystical creatures, as well as any other aspect of Japanese culture.” He stated.

Kaede put a finger on her chin as she began to think. Right. Should she ask what they eat first? What their powers are? Her head was bubbling with questions.

“What do they eat?” Kaede asked, pulling out a notebook to write down his answers.

“Well…” He began.

 

After around a solid 30 minutes of questioning, Kaede had finally gotten enough answers to begin figuring out how to properly look after Ouma. Oddly enough, kitsunes seemed to like fried tofu. Just imagining the kitsune eating it looked strange, considering his supposed obsession for fast food. After saying her thanks and goodbyes, she scurried off towards her dorm, locking the door behind her.

The kitsune was curled up on her bed, playing minecraft whilst his tails were covering his bare legs. His ears twitched when she locked the door, though he didn’t look up. She instantly went to dump the piles of clothes on his feet, pointing towards the bathroom as he looked up at her.

“Try and see which ones fit. And take off my sweater.” She ordered, making him groan.

“But it’s cold!” He whined, gabbing the piles of clothes and scurrying towards the bathroom.

“Fine. You can wear it as pajamas, just hurry up and try them on!” Kaede ushered, crossing her legs and waiting for him to finish.

After around 5 minutes, he stepped out, wearing a loose white sweater and ripped gray jeans. On top of that, he was also wearing a small checkerboard bandana, which made up for what the sweater couldn’t cover. However, he was still barefoot. And, on top of that, his ears were still present, and he had adjusted the pants in order to make room for his tails. Ouma tossed the piles of clothes into two different corners of the room.

He pointed to the left. “That pile is clothes that don’t fit me. And the right.” He paused to point to said corner. “Are clothes that fit me. I recommend that you bring me clothes shopping soon if you don’t want me to start wearing your uniform~”

The girl glanced over at the corner and, true to his words, there were only around three or four pieces of clothes on the ground. To be honest, it looked like he wouldn’t make it for a good two days before he needed to start using her clothes.

After pondering to herself for a moment, Kaede rose to her feet, rummaging through her closet and throwing a pair of socks at him, followed by a pair of fur boots. Afterwards, she handed him a somewhat large jacket. There was no way in hell that she’d let him start using her undergarments.

“Put these on. We’re going shopping.” She simply stated, before putting on her own pair of boots and jacket.

“Oh boy!!! I haven’t been shopping since 100 years ago!” Ouma exclaimed, hurriedly putting on his socks and shoes before tossing his jacket on and leaning against the door.

As soon as she had finished, she grabbed hats for the both of them. She glanced over at him, frowning when she saw his ears and tails peaking out. Kaede walked over to him, poking his ears before speaking.

“Hide these at all costs. You can’t show them in public, or else they’ll hunt you down.” She ordered, grabbing her purse off of her desk.

The kitsune pouted, before shaking his head, allowing his tails and ears to disappear. “Alright, mom.” He teased as he adjusted his pants.

Afterwards, she handed him his hat, which was a simple dark purple knitted beanie with a pair of cat ears poking out. Upon noticing this, he pouted, whilst letting out another whine.

“You just told me to hide my ears yet you’re giving me a hat with cats ears?! I’m hurt…” Ouma cried out, crossing his arms at her.

Ignoring his complaint, Kaede ushered him outside, before locking her dorm and padding with him outside of the school’s gates. During the way, he skipped eagerly, almost like a child who was heading to an amusement park. However, the girl kept a grip on his jacket’s sleeve, out of fear that he might suddenly run off. However, Ouma didn’t seem to care.

The moment they set foot outside of Hope’s Peak Academy’s gates, a new challenge arose: keeping Ouma from running off into every shop he came across.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just because he can do the puppy-dog eye stare, doesn't mean that she should give into what he wants. Because in the end, someone might end up hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohboy this story's back

Shopping with a Kitsune who was hellbent on entering every store he saw… to say the least, difficult.

As soon as they arrived at the shopping district, Kaede had to keep a vice-like grip on his sleeve in order to keep him from dashing into every food store in sight. Thankfully however, when they finally got around to doing their shopping, he had cooperated perfectly, even keeping his ears and tails hidden.

And, after a quick stop at a McDonalds, the duo had arrived back at the dorms, just before dusk settled in.

Whilst the pianist had been focused on separating and organizing their purchases, Ouma had already dug into the bag, wolfing down his share of fries as he watched her back. 

“Here.” She muttered, tossing a pair of pajamas at him. “Put this on before you go to bed.”

The boy studied the pieces of clothing: a typical oversized dog-themed tee and sweatpants. In all sincerity, he would’ve preferred cats, due to his kind’s strong hatred for all things canine. However, he simply opted to sighing in disappointment and scurrying towards the bathroom to change.

By the time he returned, Kaede was already nose-deep in her textbooks, not even looking up to acknowledge his return. Hell, she didn’t even notice that he had his ears and tails out, on top of having claw-like fingernails that clicked against the hardwood floors. Narrowing his eyes, he practically tossed himself onto her bed as he watched her write something down.

“So” He began. “What are you doing?” He finished with a purr.

“Catching up on some studying. If you get bored you can always play Minecraft on my phone.”

Ouma frowned: that wasn’t the reaction he wanted at all. However, within a few seconds, he had already come up with a foolproof plan.

“Hey Akamatsu!”

“Hmm?”

“Did you know that I am the leader of a massive secret organization?”

“That’s obviously a lie.”

“No it isn’t!” He protested, sitting up and puffing his cheeks out, letting his ears flatten and his tails lash. “If I wasn’t an all powerful yokai leader, would I be able to easily cross back and forth between your boring world and the underworld?”

Kaede finally looked up from her studies and gave him a blank stare. “The underground doesn’t even exist.”

Ouma retaliated with a series of quick nods. “It does too! After all, if it didn’t how would us yokai exist?”

He did have a point. After all, if she knew that kitsunes exist, then it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that other yokai existed. Hell, perhaps even popular mythological beings such as werewolves, vampires and mermaids could exist in her world. 

Kaede spun around in her chair, now directly facing him as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “Hey Ouma, what’s the underworld like? Is it anything like our world?”

For a few moments, his expression dropped and contorted into one that bore pain and hurt before his cat-like grin returned, burying any sort of feelings he had momentarily shown. “Well, for starters, everything is like ancient Japan. Everything. No western food, no video games, nothing.”

“And…” He paused to consider his words. “It’s basically like the Edo period? But filled to the brim with yokai and the like.”

Kaede nodded as she began picturing the scenery in her mind: Oni and kitsunes bathing together in bathhouses, various yokai living their daily lives in ancient Japan. It arose a few questions inside of her such as: if he knows what it’s like, does that mean that he was originally from the underworld or was he born in her world? And he did mention being able to cross both worlds with ease, so did that mean that his organization truly lied in the underworld, just as he had told her?

However, before she could formulate any of those questions into words, Ouma suddenly flopped down onto his stomach, his tails wagging behind him as he glanced up at her with a puppy-like and innocent gaze.

“Enough about the underworld, tell me about your world! What’s school like? Has it improved in the last 300 years?” Ouma inquired all at once.

The pianist licked her lips, furrowing her brows as she stared down at her feet. What could she say that would make sense to a mythical creature who is supposedly around 100 years old or more? Where should she begin? The food, the classes, her classmates, the system or how infuriating chemistry is? After all, Hope’s Peak is almost completely different from the public schools she attended in the past.

“Well… Basically there are around 16 students in each class and you all learn mandatory things like math, literature, geography, history, chemistry, Japanese and English. We also get a 30 minute lunch break to eat, walk, talk and do anything we need to do. But, since this isn’t an ordinary school, we also get a free period where we also practice our talents.” She began, pausing to take in a breath.

“Lunch sounds like my favorite so far~” He commented cheekily.

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Kaede chuckled and rolled her eyes as she continued. “Anyways, to get into this school, you have to be the best of the best at whatever you’re talented at, and have to be scouted by the school itself.”

Ouma took a moment to process her words. “…Do you think they accept people whose talents involve the supernatural?”

The girl rose an eyebrow. “Well, it depends. Since some of my classmates and peers’ talents do involve the supernatural. Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” The fox-boy paused to yawn, followed by quickly fixing his hair with a claw-like hand. “Welp! I’m gonna hit the hay, goodnight Kayayday!”

“Wait, ‘Kayayday’? What does that even-“ She attempted to say, before Ouma magically turned the lights off with a snap of his fingers and dove under the covers, scooting over so that she had room to also lie down.

Deciding that arguing with him would be pointless, the Ultimate decided to call it a day and finish up the rest of her daily tasks. After a few minutes, she had changed into her sleepwear, closed the curtains and crawled into bed with him, taking note at how he had shapeshifted back into a small fox whilst she was gone, thus creating more room for her.

Before she fell asleep however, Kaede swore that she could hear a faint ‘goodnight’ from the tiny fox.

 

The next day however, started off with a new challenge.

Thanks to her giving him a mini documentary on school last night, Ouma woke up practically begging her to let him attend classes. Though as much as she was interested in seeing how he’d get along with everyone, she didn’t want him to accidentally shed light on the existence of yokai due to his lack of self-control and impulsiveness.

However, despite her repeatedly spelling no out for him, he refused to take no for an answer.

And so, in the end she decided to let him come along, just as long as he remained in her bag at all times and remained silent. Overjoyed at having a chance at finally ‘attending’ a modern class, he agreed vigorously before slipping into her backpack in the form of a cat-like fox.

And so here she was, currently sitting in mathematics, with Miu in front of her and Kaito behind. Ouma was eagerly peeking out from the bag’s opening, his purple eyes glittering as he looked over every single person he could see from where he was.

The first person he saw wore a tall pointy hat and looked like a witch child. Honestly, taking in the fact that this school was supposedly a school for highly talented people, Ouma truly wondered just what she could be talented in. Could it be something magic related? He hoped it was, since he could finally have someone to talk to about magical subjects.

Glancing to his left, he saw more ridiculous-looking people: one with long spaghetti black hair and the other one who was covered head to toe in military-looking uniform. His aura alone gave Ouma incredibly bad vibes and made him shudder. He couldn’t figure out just what they were supposed to be for the life of him.

Ouma didn’t understand a single thing about how the dress code worked nowadays.

Shaking his head, he shifted his focus to the blackboard ahead, squinting his eyes as he attempted to decipher the walls of text. After a few seconds however, he opted to just watch as the teacher continued writing and explaining the subject.

“Can anyone guess what the answer is?” The professor finished, turning to face the class as he placed the chalk down.

Suddenly, the fox was compelled to do the most compulsive thing he had ever done since arriving in the human world.

“Four!” He shouted, immediately being greeted by Kaede’s left foot as she roughly kicked her backpack onto its side, resulting in him being showered with heavy textbooks.

The pianist felt her cheeks redden as she felt everyone’s gazes shift onto her. Her teacher raised an eyebrow as he met her flustered stare.

“Kaede was that you? Anyways, no it’s not four. It’s 84. Moving on…” He sighed, turning back around to face the blackboard and continuing on.

The girl heard Miu snicker, followed by her muttering a vulgar slur directed towards the pianist. As much as Kaede disliked her attitude, she decided to swallow her pride and continue praying for break to come soon.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to pray for long, since just 10 minutes after, the bell rung. The pianist slung her backpack onto her shoulders and immediately went up onto the roof with Kaito and Shuichi, just as they did every day.

Sitting at their usual secluded spot, the astronaut immediately eyed her backpack. “So uh, why’d you bring your backpack with you?”

Kaede hesitated for a moment. Should she tell Kaito? She knew that Ouma was smart enough to not suddenly dash off, but she couldn’t predict Kaito’s reaction to him. After some contemplation, the girl opened the flap, eyeing a confused black and white fox before muttering a ‘you can come out now’ to it. In the end, she decided to put a bit of faith into the kitsune.

Within a few seconds, Ouma poked his head out of the bag, uttering a small ‘mew’ as he glanced up at the purple space man, who seemed both shocked and in awe. Shuichi on the other hand, looked disappointed, though he hid his reaction with a quick tug on his hat.

“Well hey little guy! What’s your name?” Kaito gushed, cautiously extending a hand and letting the feline sniff it before nuzzling into his hand.

“His name is Ouma.” Kaede answered, smiling as the ‘cat’ stepped out of her backpack and purring as the astronaut picked him up and began stroking him.

The astronaut seemed completely enamored with him. “His coat is so incredibly soft and shiny! Is he yours?”

“W-Well… Somewhat? But technically yes…” She stuttered, watching as the cat met her gaze for a moment before switching to Shuichi. She could almost hear Ouma say ‘I’m too good to be a mere pet cat’ or something along those lines.

The ‘cat’ and the Detective met each other’s gazes for a moment before Shuichi gave him an awkward yet friendly lop-sided smile, resulting in Ouma swiping his claws at him, this time successfully attacking his hand. The boy flinched as blood splattered across the floor. The ‘feline’ however, simply bristled his fur and hissed at the now bleeding detective, his back arching into a defensive stance.

“S-Shuichi! I’m terribly sorry!” Kaede cried out, snatching Shuichi’s hand and pulling him towards the nurse’s office as Kaito awkwardly stumbled behind them with Ouma stuffed into his oversized shirt.

Soon enough, the trio were holed up at the nurse’s office, with Mikan fumbling around for the bandages and gauze. Meanwhile, Shuichi was seated on the bed, with Kaede and Kaito sitting on the chairs next to him. The astronaut gently stroked the ‘cat’ as Mikan returned to bandage his injury.

But, much to their relief, Shuichi’s wound wasn’t even that deep as it had appeared to be, and had already stopped bleeding. In the end Mikan simply slapped a bandaid onto him and walked off, supposedly to do other nursey things before lunch was over.

Kaede rubbed her temple as she met Shuichi’s gaze. She should’ve known that Ouma would’ve reacted negatively to him once again, since he’s incredibly unpredictable. Agreeing to let him come along to class was an awful idea, let alone taking him out of the bag.

“Kaede, I know what you’re going to say. But it’s okay, I’m fine, really! It didn’t even hurt that much!” Shuichi reassured, giving his best friend a firm smile.

Just seeing the boy smile at her warmed her heart. Sighing in relief, the girl straightened herself up, returning a smile back to him. At least he wasn’t mad over the fact that she was responsible for this.

After Shuichi was released by Mikan, the three went on their separate ways and returned to class as soon as Kaito gave her Ouma back. For the rest of the day, everything went smoothly and Kaede got to practice her newest piece whilst the ‘cat’ napped on her piano.

However, as soon as she arrived back at her dorm, she scooped the fox into her arms and tossed her backpack at her desk’s legs. Kaede then placed him on her bed and threw his clothes at him before she double-checked if her door was locked. As soon as he shifted back and finished changing, she lost her shit.

“What were you thinking?! Again? Do you realize how much trouble I’d be in if Shuichi wasn’t the calm type?! I could’ve been reported!” She began, putting her hands on her hips as she stared the kitsune down with a killer glare.

“Two times Ouma, two! What’s your deal with him anyways? He hasn’t even done anything to you!” The girl berated, pausing when Ouma raised a finger to speak.

“It’s because he’s a weak and lousy dogbreath! Seriously! Couldn’t you smell him? He reeks of bad vibes!” The fox rebutted, flattening his ears as his tails bristled.

“He’s an ordinary boy! And you smell like you haven’t bathed in 3 years so I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“I smell like that because I’m a forest animal, he smells like that because he’s got something immensely wrong with him that you peabrain humans can’t sense!”

The girl was about to retaliate when Ouma suddenly reached forward and grabbed her spare phone, reclining onto her bed as he fixed his gaze onto the screen. “Well, if I were you, I’d be more cautious about him. He gives off immensely evil vibes, just like that one military clothed spaghetti haired classmate of yours. And his stench is beginning to rub off on you too.”

He booted up Minecraft as he shot her one last glare. “If it weren’t for me arriving when I did, you would’ve already be equally as cursed as him. I’m doing you a favor here, Kaede.”

Deciding not to carry on the argument any further, the pianist decided to visit the school’s music room to further practice her upcoming song and to clear her mind from their small scuffle.

However, what truly unnerved her and struck her as odd was how Ouma worded his sentences. Was it true that Shuichi was indeed cursed? Or was he covering up the real reason as to why he doesn’t like him?

Whatever it was, Kaede now knew one thing: the fact that something Ouma knew more than he’d ever let on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I included a small reference to Lumine somewhere in this. If you blink, you might just miss it


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ohboy we're finally at the pre-turning point of the story

On the following day, Kaede had been called to the principal’s office during lunch break.

Thankfully, she had never been the type to get in trouble with school authority. Perhaps it was something to do with handing something to another student?

However, that wasn’t the case.

The moment she stepped into Jin Kirigiri’s office, she knew that something was very off judging by his unusually stern expression. Swallowing down her nervousness, the pianist gave him her usual warm smile and sat down. After exchanging greetings, he immediately got straight to the point.

“Miss Akamatsu, I’ve been told by a student that you have an animal in your possession on school grounds? Is that true?” He began.

Her blood ran cold and her smile immediately faltered. Sucking in a hasty breath, the girl nodded. Ouma must’ve been seen sometime during yesterday.

Her heart pounded in her ribcage as silence filled the office. However, after a few gut wrenching seconds of silence, Jin began organizing a pile of papers on his desk before continuing.

“Well, Miss Akamatsu, I’m certain that you’re aware of our school’s rules on having non-talent related animals on school property?” He sighed.

She reluctantly nodded. “You’re only allowed to have animals on school grounds if it’s talent related or if said animal is a service animal…”

The principal nodded. “Correct. Since you don’t have a bad history with us, I won’t punish you over this. However…”

“You have one week to get rid the cat by the end of the week, if you don’t want it to be taken to the pound.”

The Ultimate clutched the edges of her seat and stared down at her feet. “…Yes sir.”

“Good. You are dismissed.”

After she was let go, Kaede sulked into the girl’s bathroom, ignoring the bell echoing throughout the hallways. The pianist placed her backpack onto the counter and sighed, adjusting her hair as she began splashing her face with water to cool her systems.

“Wow, he sure sounds like a fun guy, huh?”

Looking up, the girl saw Ouma peeking out of her backpack at her. As soon as she met his gaze, he jumped out, allowing himself to grow in size, to the point where he was up to her thighs, just like an actual fox. The pianist kneeled down until she was at his level.

The girl simply sighed and frowned at him. “Ouma, I’m sorry. I really am.”

The kitsune tilted his head. “What for? It’s not your fault, is it?”

“…True. But what’s going to happen to you?”

The fox paused for a moment, and his smile faltered before his signature grin returned. “Wow Kaede, you’re concerned about me? For a typical human being, you sure are soft~”

“But don’t worry about me, I’m an all-powerful yokai, remember? I can just as easily return to the underworld should it come to that point~” He grinned, reaching his paw forward and clumsily petting her head.

The pianist frowned, but didn’t press on the matter, opting to finishing fixing herself up and return to class, with Ouma snug in her backpack. After the final bell rang, Kaede returned to her dorm room, opening her backpack to place the fox onto her bed, only to discover that he’s missing, almost as if he had vanished into thin air.

With panic immediately setting in, she changed into something casual and ran out, searching for the missing kitsune. On her way to her lab, she ran into Kaito, who was on the way towards his own lab.

He gave her a smile. “Kaede! What’s up?”

The girl struggled to catch her breath as she brushed her bangs out of the way. “Kaito, Ouma’s missing. I can’t find him anywhere and I don’t know how he escaped.”

The astronaut’s smile faltered as he put his hand on his hip. “Do you remember the last place you saw him?”

“Umm… I saw him when I stopped by the bathroom in first period. But I haven’t seen him since.”

Kaito remained silent for a few moments before nodding. “Let’s go.”

Afterwards, the duo searched through every place the girl had been throughout the day, though they only encountered other students doing after school things. However, they did encounter Shuichi in the library, although he admitted that he hasn’t seen Ouma since yesterday. The pair even searched the small wooded area surrounding the school, just in case. However, when dusk came around, Kaede decided to call it quits.

After thanking Kaito for his help and reassured him that she’d be fine. When she made sure that he was out of earshot, she flopped back onto her bed, eyeing the kitsune’s messily folded pajamas at the corner of the bed, as well as his share of clothes.

With a soft sigh, the girl changed into her pajamas and did her homework in silence. After an hour or so of studying, she decided to wrap it up and go to bed, reminiscing on how he’d normally be curled up on her bed by now.

She could almost feel his soft fur under her fingertips as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

 

Four weeks have passed since Ouma suddenly vanished.

The Ultimate pianist hasn’t moved on all that much, although she would never admit it to anyone, especially not to him. For the next 3 weeks, whenever she ran into Kaito, he’d ask her if she had found him. However, even he eventually stopped asking.

Since then, life went on as normal for her. She still hung out with Kaito and Shuichi, as well as forming a study group with some of her classmates. Of course, she still practiced the piano, and finished the song she was working on, which she had named ‘the black fox’.

However, she couldn’t deny the fact that she occasionally glanced over at her bed when she returned to her dorm, somewhat hoping that he was laying there, playing on her spare phone.

And so, Kaede was currently preparing for first period, with her classmates gradually pouring in and taking their seats, chatting amongst one another. However, when the professor stepped in, she had noticed that something was off about him, judging by the way he continuously glanced at the door.

As he arrived at his podium, he clapped his hands together, gaining all of the students’ attention. “Class, you’ll have a new classmate joining you today.”

Once the students have calmed down, he paused to nod at the doorway. “You can come in now.”

The girl glanced up and her jaw nearly dropped by what she saw.

Ouma stepped in, in full human form, skipping a bit as he eventually stopped in front of the blackboard. He was wearing a stark white outfit, similar to a stereotypical straightjacket, due to the straps on his arms and legs, albeit it being a bit torn and had a few buttons decorating it. However, the most striking part of his outfit had to be the checkerboard scarf adorning his neck.

The boy gave the class a small grin before speaking. “Nice to meet you all~ I’m Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader!”

Whilst most of the class gave him a lukewarm welcome, others such as Miu and Tenko muttered crude remarks towards him. However, Ouma simply ignored the two and sauntered towards an empty seat beside Kaede and sat down, resulting in him now being sandwiched between her and Shuichi.

The pianist met his gaze, her eyes still wide with shock and in disbelief. However, Ouma simply winked at her, before looking back up in order to focus on what the teacher was talking about.

As class continued on, Kaede stole glances at him, watching him as he interacted fervently with Shuichi, commenting on his ‘emo style’, his hat and somewhat affectionately giving him names such as saihara-chan and emo boy. Soon enough, the bell rang, signifying that it was now lunchtime.

As everyone gradually filed out the classroom, a few individuals such as Kaito, Shuichi, Kiibo, Gonta and Angie stayed behind, primarily crowing around Kokichi, who sat crisscross atop a desk.

“Atua welcomes you to this school!” The girl purred, clasping her hands together.

“Gonta also welcomes you to our class, Kokichi!” Gonta chimed in.

Kokichi grinned innocently at the two students, before shifting his gaze onto Kiibo and his expression dropping. “Hey, who’s this toaster?”

The robot scoffed at his offensive remark before regaining his composure. “I am K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot, please refrain from referring to me as a toaster. Also, please address me as Kiibo.”

“Wow! This school has its own sci-fi club! Can you shoot lasers?!”

“That’s extremely robophobic! And I’m not even from a sci-fi movie!”

Kaede couldn’t help but sigh as Kiibo eventually got fed up with Ouma’s robophobia and stomp off along with Angie and Gonta, leaving him alone in the room with Kaito, Shuichi and Kaede.

“So, who’s this guy?” Ouma asked, gesturing to Kaito.

The aforementioned bumped his fists together as he grinned. “The name’s Kaito Momota, luminary of the stars! Even crying children adore the Ultimate Astronaut!”

The supreme leader exaggeratedly gasped. “Wow! The real buzz light year! It’s been my dream to meet you!”

Kaito ignored his remark and stuck his hand out, to which Ouma fervently shook, his lips curled up into a toothy grin.

However, his gaze darkened for a split second as he settled his sights onto Shuichi, who nervously tugged his hat down. But as soon as it came, Ouma’s expression brightened as he crouched down to his level.

“What’s your name again?” He mumbled half-interestedly.

“I… I’m Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kokichi.” The boy said, sticking his hand out for the boy to shake.

However, unlike Kaito, he did not shake his hand. Instead, he roughly slapped his back, knocking the air out of the detective’s lungs. “Well Shuichi, let’s become the best of friends this year, okay?~”

After Shuichi muttered a shaky ‘okay’, the trio headed out towards their hangout spot on the roof, with their bentos in hand as Ouma happily skipped behind them. The group sat down at their spots and began chowing down, all whilst the supreme leader sat in his spot, occasionally glancing over at Kaede.

Kaito paused to look up at the boy. “Didn’t you bring a lunchbox or something? Aren’t you hungry?”

The boy simply shook his head. “Nope! I had the souls of the innocent for breakfast, but thanks for asking Momota-chan~”

The astronaut shrugged and continued to finish his meal. Kaede however, pulled her backpack off of her shoulders and took out a granola bar she kept for emergencies such as this, and tossed it at Ouma, who appeared overjoyed as he began chowing down.

Shuichi was the first one to speak up. “So, where are you from?”

“Somewhere in Hokkaido! I don’t remember the exact village name where I was born, but I grew up somewhere near Rubeshibecho Hanaoka~” Ouma purred.

The detective simply nodded awkwardly and continued chowing down on his lunch, whilst Kaito begun to lecture Ouma about space, who eagerly listened in return. Kaede couldn’t help but chuckle as the boy watched and listened as the astronaut went on and on about his passion.

Soon enough however, the bell rang, signifying that lunch break was officially over. Kaito was the first one to excuse himself, claiming that he had to go find Maki for something regarding their talents. Second was Shuichi, who excused himself to go spend time in his ultimate lab, leaving Kaede alone with Ouma.

So now, the two were currently walking over to Kaede’s lab, with the supreme leader skipping eagerly behind her. The moment the boy closed the door behind himself, he slumped against it, watching the pianist sit on the piano bench.

“Hey, labs don’t have cameras, right?”

“There are only cameras in the labs of students with dangerous talents, as far as I’m aware.”

“Hmm…”

Ouma shot a quick glance around the room and making sure that the door was locked before he shook his head, letting his ears and tails sprout. The boy then sauntered his way over to the girl, sitting beside her and watching her as she placed her backpack to the side and began warming up.

“Man, I didn’t know that this school didn’t serve lunch! And you said that this school had lunch!” The boy sighed.

The girl didn’t look away as she continued. “We do, it’s just that you haven’t discovered the cafeteria yet. And my friends and I all bring our own lunches from home since the line can be really hectic.”

“Aw shoot, remind me to visit it tomorrow. I’m starving…”

Kaede’s playing faltered for a moment as she considered her actions. She then reached for her bag, taking out 500 yen she had stashed in her bag and handed it to him, telling him to visit the vending machine on the first floor and buy something for him to eat. And, quickly hiding his ears and tails, he gave her a thanks and ran off, leaving her alone for a while.

Soon enough, he returned with a huge bag of Doritos, plopping back down next to her and offering to share. And thus, piano playing was forgotten, as the two had gone on to chat with one another over a bag of chips.

And when the next period came, their day went on a normal, although Ouma often doodled on his desk instead of actually copying things down. And when the two were walking to their dorms, instead of heading towards the boys’ dorms, he followed her into her room, allowing himself to flop back onto her bed, ears and tails exposed.

“Don’t you want to go to your own dorm?” She questioned, organizing her desk as she took out her homework.

The boy in question whined. “It’s so dusty in there, I’ll let the maid girl clean it before I even touch it. Besides, I didn’t understand a thing during math.”

Kaede decided to change her plans and instead place her math materials on her bed, along with her spare notebook and pencils. The girl took a seat next to the kitsune, who sat up and eyed her curiously.

“Well then, grab your pencils and pay close attention!: Kaede chirped, taking her own pencil into her hand as she then proceeded to try and teach Ouma the subject.

And thus, Kaede tutored Ouma until sunset, then switching into pajamas and deciding to play Minecraft together on her phones until it was bedtime. 

By the time she had taken shower and gotten ready for bed, Ouma was already fast asleep, in fox form and curled up onto her pillow, just as he always had. Grinning a bit, the girl gently stroked his ear as she laid down, closing her eyes and sighing contently, relieved that Ouma is back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ouma has returned, and he's more of a troublemaker than ever. And not long after, the students of HPA embark on a camping trip to south Hokkaido, for a chance to relax together for the summer.

Three weeks have passed since Ouma had returned in his new form, as a human. Although Kaede was overjoyed at his return, she was both curious and suspicious as to how he had forged himself an identity, where he got his clothes and how he got scouted by the school. However, whenever she tried asking him, all she got as an answer was 'because I’m an all-powerful kitsune, that’s why’ from him. And so, she decided to leave it at that.

Overall, in general, Ouma has gotten along quite well with the grand majority of their classmates. However, he has also established quite a few enemies amongst the class, such as Tenko and Miu. Despite this, he has managed to befriend Kaito and Gonta, and even improved relations with Shuichi. However, he still insists on calling him 'dogbreath', no matter how much she tried to get him to stop.

When it came to their teachers, Ouma preferred to walk on thin ice with them. He often played pranks on them, often times subtly involving magic. One of those pranks were using his powers to make the math teacher's pen explode in his shirt. Kaede was forced to watch as the poor teacher struggled to remove the ink from his favorite shirt, all whilst Ouma giggled in his seat. In the end, Ouma was sent to the guidance counselor for laughing. Most of the time she thought that the only reason he didn’t get caught was due to the fact that he was literally as sly as a fox.

Though she’d never admit it, classes did become a lot more entertaining with him right beside her in human form. Normally, Kaede would struggle to stay awake during chemistry class, but whenever she and Ouma were paired up together for a project, he turned whatever alchemy homework they had into a wild potion brewing session in her dorm room. Often times they didn’t even come anywhere near to finishing the project at the end of the afternoon, due to continuously goofing around with whatever object Ouma decided to enchant.

However, there was one other thing Kaede noticed since his return.

Ever since she and Ouma began hanging out more often, Shuichi would hang out with her less and less. Sometimes he would miss out on their scheduled study group and wouldn’t pick up the phone when anybody called. And on the days where he did come, when Kaede left the room for 5 minutes, she’d return to the sight of Ouma teasing and mocking Shuichi for his hat, all whilst Kaito tried to stop him.

When she tried to confront him about it, Shuichi would often dodge the question and assure her that he was fine and that his relationship with Ouma was okay. Though she didn’t pressure him about it, the pianist could very easily see through his flimsy attempt to cover something up.

And today, just after lab period, when Ouma was gone for more than 10 minutes, she went to go look for him. And to her surprise, she found the two boys running through the corridors in the library, with the supreme leader clutching all of his things whilst the poor detective had no other choice but to give chase. 

When she had finally managed to separate the two boys, she immediately interrogated the two. According to a witness who saw the whole charade, Ouma simply sat beside the detective, picked up whatever archive he was reading and ran off with it, backpack included.

After she had managed to get the two to apologize, she gave the supreme leader a quick lecture as they returned to class, hoping that this time he’d actually learn something.

And so here she was, fiddling around with her pencil as Ouma was finishing up the rest of his history homework, just before the teacher walked in. Afterwards, he turned it in, alongside with hers before taking his rightful spot alongside the pianist once more.

As soon as the teacher organized the piled papers on her desk, she cleared her throat, silencing the chattering students.

“Class, as you may have heard from the upperclassmen, Hope's Peak Academy has gotten a discount at a camping reservation in southern Hokkaido...” She paused to adjust her glasses. “And, with the fundings we got from the talent show not too long ago, principal Jin had made calculations and it’s been determined that the whole school could go!”

Chatter immediately sprung up again, only to be ceased when she cleared her throat.

“However, those who plan to go must pay at least ten thousand yen to contribute. Tents will be provided, but you must bring your own things such as towels, clothes, sleeping bags, etcetera.”

After she had finished giving her announcement, class went on as normal, with everyone buzzing on what they’d do once they got there. By the end of history class, nobody had actually focused on what she was attempting to teach that day.

And by the end of the school day, half of the school was already competing to pay their portion before the slots filled up. 

“Akamatsu! Hey Akamatsu!” Ouma called out.

The girl placed the sheet notes down and glanced over at the boy calling out to her, currently sprawled out over her bed as if he was at home.

“Yes, Ouma?” She sighed.

He flashed her a wide smile. “We’re going camping, right? You’ll go, riiight?”

“Well… I’d have to ask my parents to lend me some money, and I doubt they’ll send it before the trip-“

“Say no more! Since I’m your oh-so-generous familiar, I’ll divide my shares with you~” The fox interrupted with a grin.

“Wh- Your shares? What do you mean? You didn’t steal, did you?!” She barked at him.

Ouma sighed, sitting up and facing Kaede with crossed legs, an unamused expression plastered on his face. “Yes, I spent four weeks blowing up various ATMs around Tokyo to gather up more than twenty thousand yen for this sole reason.

Of course not! Every respectable kitsune has their own pile of treasures! Mine just happens to be made of money …and soda.”

Kaede narrowed her eyes. She was unsure if she should trust his words, not because she didn’t trust him – okay, maybe that was a tiny bit true – but because that nobody could possibly arrange ten thousand yen in such a short amount of time, let alone for two people. In the end, her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to trust him for now.

Kaede sighed and laid back in her chair. “Alright, fine. But if I detect anything fishy, I’ll immediately tell the staff.”

“You got my word, Akamatsu-chan!”

 

And true to his word, Ouma did indeed have the twenty thousand yen needed for the trip.

How he got it was a mystery, yet he insisted on the fact that he didn’t steal any of it. Despite her gut telling herself otherwise, Kaede in the end decided to roll with it and trust him.

And, after two long months, the day of the long anticipated trip had finally arrived.

Everyone in her class was able to pay, and, on top of that, they were able to get an entire campsite all to themselves, away from their upperclassmen, complete with a river just a few kilometers down south. It was the perfect spot to get away for a few weeks.

Her classmates were currently gathered in front of the school, late at night. The plan was to leave when it was close to midnight, so that they could arrive during the day. And for that sole reason, everyone had brought along their own jackets and phones to use in the bus.

Well, everyone except for Ouma.

Despite packing up, he hadn’t really planned ahead when it came to the bus ride itself. As a result, the pianist had to give him a sweater to wear for the duration of the trip. Thankfully, he seemed to settle down afterwards, and went to chat with Kaito one-on-one.

Not long after the whole ordeal, their bus had arrived. And as soon as everyone had stored their luggage and taken their seats, they finally were off towards their summer destination…

 

The trip thus far was peaceful.

That was until Kaito decided that singing was a good idea.

Kaito insisted on singing 'road trip' songs, alongside a few others who were gathered in the back. Unfortunately, this meant disturbing everybody else’s attempts at falling asleep.

For a short while, they sung their hearts out, all until Miu snapped at them and threatened to throw them out of the window. Afterwards, after exchanging some small chats, they piped down and finally went to sleep.

Kaede on the other hand, who was seated somewhere in the middle, was sandwiched between Ouma, who insisted on having the window seat, and Shuichi, who had moved up front when the astronaut had begun singing.

Surprisingly, Ouma had been remarkably well-behaved this far into the trip. He mainly stared outside the window and occasionally commented on things he found interesting. And when the bus had turned the lights off, he decided to let go and let his ears out.

Halfway through, he had fallen asleep, his pale cheek resting against Kaede's arm. The girl had covered him in a blanket to keep him warm, as well as placing a hat on his heat to hide his ears when she saw Shuichi approaching.

The detective seemed over-relieved to finally get away from his rowdier classmates and earn some well-deserved rest. He and the pianist had a few quick discussions before deciding to finally hit the hay, with both boys softly snoring on each of her shoulders.

 

By the time they had arrived, it was well past breakfast time and the sun was already high in the sky. Everyone mutually agreed that eating was their first priority, before any of them went around to set up camp. After everyone had eaten, the students had begun setting up the tents and gathering supplies.

After a long morning, they had finally gotten everything set up. Afterwards, the class leader, Angie Yonaga, had begun organizing everyone into pairs. According to her, there aren’t enough tents to go around for everyone, due to last year’s freshmen being too rowdy and breaking two of them. And thus, some people had to be put into groups of three. And according to her, everyone had been organized by their compatibility with certain students, in order of avoid conflicts. Kaede just hopped that the last part was true.

The list went as following: Rantaro with Ryoma, Angie with Himiko, Tsumugi with Tenko, Gonta with Maki, Shuichi with Kaede and Kaito, Ouma with Miu and Kiibo, and Kirumi with Korekiyo.

For the most part, everyone was at a mutual agreement with the list: save for Ouma and Tenko. Whilst Tenko had insisted on swapping tents with Angie for the sake of being 'awkward' with being around Tsumugi, Ouma's reasoning for wanting to swap tents consisted of nothing but robophobic slurs such as “Kiiboy snores too loud!!! He sounds like an old lawnmower when he snores.” And “Miu probably sleeps commando like the nasty pervert she is!”

And after he exchanged some verbal jabs at the aforementioned pair, he had been placed in Kaito's tent, with Shuichi being placed in Miu’s. And after exchanging light apologies to both Miu and Kiibo, Kaede went to organize her own things in their shared tent.

“Isn’t this amazing Kaede?! We get to share a tent together!” Ouma chirped, hopping on the inflated air bed.

“Hey, get off! You’re gonna pop the damn thing!” Kaito’s barked, glaring at Ouma’s back as he organized his astrology related things in his corner.

The girl watched as the supreme leader hopped off, sauntering over to his sleeping bag and flopping down on it. “Well, yes, but you insulted both of your were-to-be-tentmates to do so.” She sighed.

Ouma shrugged. “Kiibo isn’t too bad. I just wish that he actually has survival instincts like the rest of us. But I still stand by what I said about Miu though.”

“Oh come on,” Kaito sighed from the opposite corner. “Sure, she’s vulgar and curses way too much, but that doesn’t make her a bad person. She’s quite soft once you get to know her.”

The supreme leader ignored the astronaut and rolled over onto his stomach, opting to watch Kaede in whatever she was doing. “Anyways, when are we going hiking or something?”

“Sometime tomorrow, it’s close to sunset and everybody is tired from the bus ride,” She said, finishing up on organizing her bags.

“Aww… Everyone is so slow,” Ouma whined, earning a small chuckle from the girl.

After the three had gotten settled down, the two students accompanied Kaito to not only help look for backup firewood, but for an optimal star-gazing spot for the astronaut.

As soon as they had found a clearing on a nearby hill, he begged them to come with him, saying that it’d be fun and that he could teach them both about constellations. Whilst they agreed to come, Kokichi teased him by saying that the sole reason he even asked them to join him was because he’s afraid of the dark, earning a flustered yet clearly angry denial from him.

 

By the time night had come around, just after dinner was finished, the trio snuck off to stargaze with Kaito, exchanging numerous giggles and jokes along the way. By the time they got to the clearing they had reserved for this occasion, Kaede was out of breath, mostly from the jokes the boys had told.

In the end, the pianist had a blast spending time with them. Kaito had taught her numerous facts about constellations and pointed out the various types that inhabited their sky, all whilst Kokichi had input his own commentary on what he thought they looked like, with some looking like stick figured battling in the sky, according to him.

When the trio noticed the fire died out in the campsite below, they all agreed to head down and rest for the night. Kaito packed up the telescope and began heading back whilst Kaede followed, with Kokichi following close behind.

When they arrived at their destination, Kaito didn’t hesitate in practically jumping into his air mattress, whilst Kokichi had stopped in his tracks, just a few feet away from the tents.

“Kokichi? Aren’t you coming in?” Kaito asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I think I dropped something on the way back, I’m gonna borrow Kaede for a bit,” Ouma stated, eyeing the aforementioned with a deadpan stare.

The astronaut grunted. “Don’t stay out for too long.”

Without waiting for Kaede to complain about his blatant lie, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away from the campsite, just to where they were out of earshot. He quickly glanced around their surroundings before sighing.

“We’re being watched.” He stated flatly.

“What?” she choked out.

“I’m not making this up. We're being watched and I know it,” He whispered.

“Who’s watching?”

“I’m not sure, but earlier this night, when we were heading towards the clearing, I saw something near the edges of it. I wanted to go investigate it myself but it heard Kaito and ran off.”

“What did it look like?”

“Well, it wasn’t a person. It was dog-like, black fur and it had the pointiest ears I’ve ever seen on any canine.

On top of that, I saw it again, when we arrived down at the tents. It was at the clearing, sniffing at the ground.” 

Kaede’s breath caught in her throat as she processed the situation: they were in the woods, with no other people next to them for the next mile or so and now Kokichi has found out that they were being watched by a possibly rabid animal.

“Are you sure that it isn’t a loose dog?” Kaede asked.

The boy shook his head, his purple eyes glistening. “No, dogs don’t reek. And on top of that, dogs wouldn’t have the same exact bad scent I smelled back at school.”

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, any and all suspicion flaring up inside of her. “Are you saying that there’s an evil being here?”

“Not yokai, werewolf. We’re being stalked by something, Akamatsu. Their eyes glow orange whenthey're hungry, for crying out loud!”

“If you’re going to tell me that Shuichi is a werewolf, I don’t want to hear it,” She immediately cut in.

The boy narrowed his eyes. “Listen, you don’t have to believe a word I have to say. But please believe me when I say that-“

“Ouma, you don’t get it, if Shuichi really was a werewolf, he would’ve told me. We’ve been together since grade school! His family doesn’t even believe in the supernatural!”

“You don’t know him! Human beings lie just as much as they breathe! They constantly live hiding their true selves from everybody else. Saihara could just as easily lie to you-“

“Then what does that make you?”

“Look, I know I lie, I get it. But werewolves kill people Kaede. If or someone else turns out to be one and that they has a lust for blood, everyone in this campsite is fucked. We need a plan.”

“A plan?” She repeated.

“Yes. We could wait until it’s near nighttime and coax everyone into staying up and tell ghost stories or something as equally as lame. Then, when somebody gets up to leave, I follow them and if I find the culprit, I’ll let you know!”

“…We're not following anybody!”

Ouma groaned. “We don’t have much time! For all we know, we could be dealing with a literal ticking time bomb!”

“…”

“Look,” the boy mumbled. “Are you with or against me?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Let me know first thing tomorrow.”

The kitsune sighed in relief, before transforming into his small fox form and wriggling out of his clothes.

“…I'm going out on a hunt. I’ll be back before dawn,” Ouma yawned, before scampering off into the night.

The girl watched his tail as he bounced away into the distance. After she couldn’t see him anymore, she picked up his clothes as she stomped back to the tent, frustrated by his words.

As she stepped back inside, she reflected on the boy’s choice in wording. Dog-breath, evil being, werewolf.

If Shuichi truly was a werewolf, she surely would’ve picked up on something by now. Not only did he not believe in the supernatural, but he hasn’t had a dog since he was in middle school! She felt frustrated at the mere suggestion that her best friend could be lying to her.

As she curled up in her sleeping bag, she sighed, reflecting on any possible thing that could possibly lead up to that conclusion. Sure, Ouma could be far-fetched with his ideologies sometimes, but half of his predictions thus far was correct.

…She made a mental note to let him know that she’d take part in his out-landish plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was by far one of the hardest to plan out an edit. On top of my computer being a literal bitch to work with, thus leaving me to write only on my phone, I had to deal with awkwardly timing chapters.
> 
> Originally, I wasn't going to include the camping bit so early, but I had no choice but to merge Ch. 6 and Ch. 5 together, due to how short the chapters would've turned out. So sorry if some bits appear choppier and rushed than others.
> 
> But we're at the middle section of the story!!! Yay!
> 
> And updates may come randomly, seeing as high school has just begun and I have the ENEM coming up, as well as preparations for college. But I assure you that I'm not going to go dead, I've got other stories up my sleeve too :^)
> 
> Also happy pre-romance day, go treat yourself to something nice


End file.
